Star Luo's Crushing Loss, Return to the Sun Moon Empire

Smack!

"What did you say?!"

Inside the resplendent golden hall, the blond middle-aged man clad in imperial robes and wearing an Eight-Treasure Purple Gold Crown slammed his hand onto the table and rose to his feet. The fury and shock in his eyes made the three black-clad figures kneeling on one knee below tremble uncontrollably.

The leader of the black-clad men gritted his teeth and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, Elder Yu and the others... as well as the ten-thousand-man force responsible for capturing soul beasts... have collectively, collectively vanished..."

The Star Luo Emperor felt his vision go dark. His body swayed, and he nearly fell from his throne; even his crown had gone crooked. It felt as if the sky had collapsed upon him. His chest tightened painfully, and he felt so miserable that he seemed ready to pass away on the spot.

What did that ten-thousand-man soul beast hunting force represent? He knew better than anyone. Elder Yu and the two fire-element Titled Douluo accounted for fully half of the Star Luo Empire's top-tier strength!

The three great empires did not possess many soul masters to begin with. In order to capture the Snow Empress, the empire had spent no less than five years planning before paying such a tremendous price to deploy this ten-thousand-man soul master force. They amounted to one-fifth of the Star Luo Empire's current soul master strength!

Losing dozens or even hundreds would have been bearable, but ten thousand vanishing together... their fate was most likely total annihilation...

Taking a deep breath, he barely suppressed the surging blood and energy within him. The Star Luo Emperor said in a low voice, "Who else knows about this?"

The black-clad man hurriedly shook his head. "Other than us, only Your Majesty..."

The emperor barely calmed himself and said, "Good. Remember this: for the time being... a fifth person cannot be allowed to learn of this! Go north across the continent and search again... for traces of Elder Yu and the others..."

"Yes!!" The three black-clad men answered in unison. Seeing that their emperor had finally regained his composure, they felt somewhat relieved.

The emperor's face alternated between red and white. He was filled with regret, while also hating the Far North's Three Heavenly Kings to the extreme.

His only hope now was that Elder Yu and the other two had not truly died. He wanted to see them alive, or their corpses if they were dead!

And there was also that ninth-grade Soul Tool, the Deification Platform...

What a catastrophic loss! Three Titled Douluo, ten thousand soul masters, and a ninth-grade Soul Tool—such losses were simply astronomical!

This was not the Sun Moon Empire. The entire Star Luo Empire could not even produce a fourth ninth-grade Soul Tool!!

Forcing himself to sit back down on the throne, the Star Luo Emperor's originally violent emotions instead calmed in the face of this crisis.

"One final matter. Send people to every major auction house, including those in the Sun Moon Empire. Watch all high-end auctions. If the Deification Platform is found, even if it is merely a fragment! The moment it appears, spare no cost to buy it back."

"Yes, Your Majesty!!"

Lu Xueling and Sirin, who had just returned to the Sun Moon Empire, had no idea that the Far North's Three Kings, already made into Herrscher Cores, would still have to take such a massive blame after death.

Fortunately, the operation had been confidential and no news had leaked. Otherwise, the Sun Moon Empire's royal family would have celebrated with champagne for a full day and night.

Space twisted slightly, and Sirin and Lu Xueling returned once more to that familiar room. The Herrscher Cores had already been put away; they could not let Jing Hongchen and the others see those things yet.

"Queen, you've returned. Did the operation go smoothly?" Bella stood by the door, and seeing them return filled her with delight.

Sirin patted Little Bella Dragon on the head and smiled faintly. "With Erosion and this Queen acting together, how could we possibly fail?"

"The Queen is mighty!" Bella offered a timely compliment.

Lu Xueling stepped forward as well and got to business. "Bella, have there been any changes over the past three days?"

Bella spread her hands. "Nothing major. However, that child you asked me to watch has been very diligent. She seems to be improving rapidly. As for the progress on researching the White Training Armor... honestly, these humans have not even made it to five percent."

Lu Xueling nodded slightly and decided to make the trip himself. "Sirin, you and Bella stay here. I'll handle the negotiations. Oh, right, Bella, these are for you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Xueling waved his hand. The three Fierce Beast Soul Bones flew out and landed in Little Bella Dragon's palms.

"I added a little seasoning with Honkai Energy. Enjoy, little Bella."

Bella held the three Fierce Beast Soul Bones, her Dragon Eyes gleaming brightly. "Thank you!"

Without another word, Bella swallowed them in one gulp. With a casual bite of her dragon teeth, the sound of bone fragments shattering came from her mouth. Dark-blue Honkai Energy soon began circulating through her body.

Lu Xueling did not wait for Bella to finish digesting them and headed straight for Jing Hongchen's office.

Sirin sat reclined in midair with her legs crossed, watching him leave with gentle eyes. She reached out and touched her spine. Feeling that distinct pattern beneath her fingers, the corners of her lips curled upward.

Inside the hall master's office, Jing Hongchen silently admired the design documents for the Domain Armor: White Lian in his hands. He was already an old man, and he was not a woman either, so there was naturally no use for such a thing.

But his granddaughter might be able to use it! Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, the brother and sister, were the ones he valued most. Though his grandson could not use it, his granddaughter would do just fine.

Furthermore, after Lu Xueling and Sirin left, Jing Hongchen had spent the past three days racking his brains over whether he could replicate it by following the same pattern and create armor that men could wear as well—armor he could personally operate. Unfortunately, things did not go as hoped. The Valkyrie Armor, even if it was only an incomplete C-rank model, was something Mingde Hall had merely scratched the surface of. As for Sacred Marks, their understanding extended no further than recognizing those two words.

It seemed he would have to trouble Mr. Lu in the end...

This feeling of being blocked by someone else's scientific technology gave Jing Hongchen a terrible headache. To be honest, it was not just him—the Sun Moon Empire had not experienced such a feeling in a very long time.

Jing Hongchen was deeply conflicted. I heard... that the Supreme Leader of the Guardian Divine Church is also a ninth-grade Soul Engineer, and even a legendary Rank 99 Limit Douluo. Could it be... that I'll have to trouble her?

Knock, knock, knock.

A sound came from the office's metal door. Jing Hongchen collected his thoughts, coughed, and said, "Come in."

Lu Xueling entered with a calm expression. When Jing Hongchen saw that it was him, he hurriedly rose to greet him. "Mr. Lu, why didn't you tell this old man you had returned? I could have gone to welcome you."

Lu Xueling waved a hand and chuckled. "Hall Master, let's forget such unnecessary formalities. Let's discuss business. I came today to fulfill the promise I made before leaving."

Upon hearing that, Jing Hongchen was overjoyed. The grin spreading across his face simply would not close. "Then... when do we begin?"

That was a second set of Valkyrie Armor!

Lu Xueling snapped his fingers. "I'll give it to you now. Also, Red Dust Hall Master, have someone bring the Domain Armor: White Lian over as well."

"No problem." Jing Hongchen agreed without a second thought. To show his sincerity, he even personally left for Mingde Hall's secret laboratory to retrieve the White Training Armor.

Returning to school tonight. The next chapter will be posted a little later.